SRINAGAR: Saleem Sadiq, 17, a resident of Swari, Koteranka, in Rajouri has scored 647out of 720 marks in NEET examinations that fetched him an All India Rank of 13 in Scheduled Tribe (ST) category.
Sadiq had his schooling from Delhi Public School, Jammu. His mother, a homemaker, and father, a Deputy General Manager, in Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), supported him through thick and thin and ensured his coaching from the best coaching Institutions.
When he had all he had asked for, all that was needed was the hard work coupled with smart work, patience, persistence, dedication and focus on the examination.
When asked about what an aspirant should read, Sadiq said: “It is important to stick to NCERT’s basic books and revise them multiple times. One should consistently practice mock tests.”
Further, he used to practice more than 500 problems for every chapter of physics and chemistry and biology. Besides, Sadiq urged them to have micro-goals on daily basis and macro goals for the final exam.
When pandemic lockdown shut education institutions, Sadiq was relentless in his pursuit to goal and success as he saw an opportunity in the problem. “Lockdown gave me extra time for self-study and practising papers,” said Sadiq.
When asked about how he tacked constant distractions from various mediums like social media and socialization, Sadiq said he is a gadget freak but likes cycling, photography, sketching as well. “I believe that ‘excess of everything is bad’. I was not off from social media but used it for a limited time when I thought my goal for a day is done; I remained connected with many close friends through Social media. For entertainment, I used to watch YouTube videos,” he said.
Not negating to be a nerd or oblivious to social media and gaming world, which has taken over the time and attention of youth much these days, Sadiq said: “I used to play some online games just to refresh my mind, but I made sure I do not become an addict,” he added.
Asked about the importance of the Internet, Sadiq said it is very important in modern-day studies especially it helped him during the lockdown period. “I did all my mock tests online that were provided by institutes.”
Sadiq credits his success to parents who supported him in his toughest times and teachers who were always available for him to guide.
“I always had a goal to not just be a doctor but wanted to be in a good Medical College like All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), or Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC)” he said, insisting he always had kept his goals high and wanted to score at least above 600 in the examination.
